


Sweet Temptations

by grahamcracker76



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Baked Goods, Birthday cards, Flirting, M/M, Pre-Canon, but it’s Peter so that’s a given
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grahamcracker76/pseuds/grahamcracker76
Summary: A pre-canon story in which Neal flirts with Peter through baked goods and birthday cards and Peter has a lot of feelings about it.
Relationships: Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey
Comments: 7
Kudos: 63





	Sweet Temptations

**Author's Note:**

> Because I love the fact that Neal sending Peter birthday cards during the chase is actually canon! And that Peter kept the birthday cards in his own personal unofficial “Neal” box along with all the other things he didn’t log into evidence.

It starts with the cookie.

It’s a singularly perfect sugar cookie, the kind you would get from one of the fanciest bakeries, looking the picture of innocence as it sits there in a crisp white paper bag on Peter’s desk. Inside the bag, there’s also a card, which Peter draws out with interest.

“Happy birthday, Peter,” the card reads, followed by an elaborate sketch of a dark-haired man in an apron, whisking something in a baking bowl. Under the sketch, the message continues - “I hope to bake these for you in person one day. Until then, please accept what I have on good authority is the best sugar cookie in Manhattan. xoxo, Neal.”

Neal… Peter’s heart leaps, a spike of adrenaline rushing through him. He’s been chasing Neal Caffrey for about a year now, and the alleged forger, art thief, and con man is keeping him on his toes like no one before. It’s like an elaborate dance where both partners are learning the steps as they go, or like putting together a puzzle and not knowing what the bigger picture is supposed to look like when you begin. It’s exhilarating - and it is all part of the job, but at the same time, Peter has never had so much fun in his life.

And now Neal has gone and done something completely unexpected, turning the tables yet again - he’s sent him a cookie. A cookie and a birthday card. Sure, everyone in the White Collar unit knows to let his birthday pass without comment, but it seems Neal Caffrey thrives on breaking the rules, even the ones he doesn’t know exist.

Peter shakes his head, unable to stop a small smile from breaking free as he studies the man in Neal’s sketch, sure that Neal has drawn him a self portrait. He wonders if Neal really does bake - he’ll file it away in his own personal Neal Caffrey file later. Now, his thumb strokes gently over the xoxo Neal has left him, and he tries not to examine his feelings about it too closely. It’s a joke, that’s all - nothing more.

Sighing, he puts the card safely in his desk drawer and carefully draws out the cookie. It’s perfectly round, and it looks soft and crumbly. It’s decorated with light blue frosting with a white border. It looks like a perfectly innocent cookie. It  _ is _ a perfectly innocent cookie, except that it came from Neal Caffrey, and Peter doubts Neal has done anything that could be qualified as purely “innocent” in his entire life.

But it is just a cookie, and it is his birthday, even if Peter doesn’t like to make a fuss over it. He  _ could _ offer the cookie to one of the other Agents, but he’s sure he would get strange looks, since they are all fully aware that it’s his birthday, even if they know not to mention it. Why would he be giving other people cookies on his birthday? Questions would be asked, and he knows he can’t mention Neal’s involvement.

And that’s another thing altogether - Peter already knows this incident won’t be going into any official reports, even if it probably should. It feels personal somehow, something just meant for the two of them.

Because for all that they don’t have a personal relationship, it feels like they do. Peter knows Neal, and Neal clearly knows him, at least to some extent. For a fleeting moment, Peter wonders what it might be like to meet Neal Caffrey if he weren’t an FBI Agent. Would they like each other or would they piss each other off? Would they become friends? Would they make each other laugh?

Peter puts his head in his hands. It’s all irrelevant, of course. He’s never going to be  _ friends _ with Neal Caffrey - because he is an FBI Agent and Neal is a con man. There’s only a few ways this could end, and none of them seem good. He can’t afford to get too involved, or he’ll be thrown off the case, and he doesn’t think he could stand that.

Peter takes a deep breath and pulls himself together. It’s a cookie, nothing more - he’s putting this all out of perspective. No one sends secret messages in cookies, not even Neal Caffrey.

He puts the cookie back in its paper bag and resolutely doesn’t think of it again until the end of the day, when he catches sight of it just as he’s about to leave. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabs the bag and the card.

Once he’s safely out of the office, he takes out the cookie. He looks at it, and he wonders. How had Neal known today was his birthday? How much did Neal know about him? Had Neal researched him as much as he researched Neal? How does he feel about that?

Questions swirl around Peter’s head, with no answers in sight. Peter is left with no certainties, except that this is a cookie, and it’s from Neal, and he does have a weakeness for sugar cookies.

Peter eats the cookie.

It tastes just as good as he imagined.

If this is Neal flirting with him - well, he knows just how to do it.

***

E N D

***

  
  
  



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